Wisconsin governor goes bonkers

Mark_Asher · 2011-07-26T10:04:01.000Z

Serioiusly, they close a DMV in a Democratic area and the nearest one is 30 minutes away? They really are trying to suppress the vote. What a bunch of bastards.

ShivaX · 2011-07-26T10:17:46.000Z

Mark Asher:

Serioiusly, they close a DMV in a Democratic area and the nearest one is 30 minutes away? They really are trying to suppress the vote. What a bunch of bastards.

No, this is all about voter fraud!

(Please disregard the fact that voter fraud doesn’t really exist)

(Also disregard that we’re blatantly disenfranchising people who vote Democrat)

BlueJackalope · 2011-07-26T10:22:59.000Z

Mark Asher:

Serioiusly, they close a DMV in a Democratic area and the nearest one is 30 minutes away? They really are trying to suppress the vote. What a bunch of bastards.

Its funny people are forgetting thath DMVs are actually necessary to license and drive cars.

ShivaX · 2011-07-26T10:49:20.000Z

BlueJackalope:

Its funny people are forgetting thath DMVs are actually necessary to license and drive cars.

Democrats don’t need cars.

They can ride bikes and take buses. Fucking hippies.

Tortilla · 2011-07-26T10:53:00.000Z

Does anyone have a link to a story with more context? Are they closing DMVs for some sound reason such as consolidation of services or moving more services online, even if the choices of which ones to close might be influenced by partisan politics?

I know around here they have moved a whole bunch of DMV services online and this has drastically reduced the crowds at the DMVs. Last few times I went in for a registration renewal or license renewal is was easy as pie because there were almost no lines.

ShivaX · 2011-07-26T11:01:09.000Z

This is a fairly neutral reporting:

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OKSP800.htm

I’m not sure on the logic behind closing offices to get more hours. Then again the whole bill seems pretty shady and stupid.

Having to go 30 minutes away for a Driver’s License is just stupid. Lets say you don’t have one and don’t have a ride. Guess you’ll never drive. Hope you really like it in Fort Atkinson and the weather isn’t crappy when you walk to work.

Unless Wisconsin has some wonderful mass transit that defys the rest of the midwest, every town is kinda on their own for the most part.

Plus I like this:

The recently enacted state budget requires that DMV driver license and ID card services be offered in all 72 counties at least 20 hours a week. Currently, only 30 counties have offices that meet that 20-hour requirement.
Once the changes are made, there will be 625 more hours of DMV service to the public a week or about 32,000 hours more a year, said Kristina Boardman, the department’s director of field services who is overseeing the plan.

Weren’t they in some sort of budget emergency? I’m sure 32k extra hours is free. I mean its only for a boogeyman threat that doesn’t exist.

BlueJackalope · 2011-07-26T11:29:51.000Z

ShivaX:

… I mean its only for a boogeyman threat that doesn’t exist.

Democratic voters absolutely do exist.

JonRowe · 2011-07-26T15:05:07.000Z

I think this is being blown a little out of proportion. My town didn’t have a DMV and I had to drive 30 minutes to get to one to take a test and get my license. The midwest is a big sparsely populated place, this is going to happen from time to time.

Now, the voter ID bill was bullshit. This is a bit odd, but I don’t see it being any harder to get an ID. The fact that you need one is still crazy though.

Jason_McCullough · 2011-07-26T15:09:41.000Z

What do you do if you don’t have a car? Legally they should be mandated to provide a free bus ticket, at least.

JonRowe · 2011-07-26T15:15:42.000Z

I drove there with my Mom, as most of my class of 75 did (with the respective guardians). Or got a ride from an older brother/sister.

I am all for hating Walker and his trouble-making ways, but this seems like a small issue to get excited about.

Jason_McCullough · 2011-07-26T15:23:13.000Z

I hear they sometimes expire and you can’t get your Mom to drive you.

Dean · 2011-07-26T15:23:48.000Z

ShivaX:

Weren’t they in some sort of budget emergency? I’m sure 32k extra hours is free. I mean its only for a boogeyman threat that doesn’t exist.

Well, since the DMV workers don’t have collective bargaining anymore, they can pay them the minimum wage and require unpaid overtime.

Winning!

Mark_Asher · 2011-07-26T15:49:57.000Z

Jon Rowe:

I think this is being blown a little out of proportion. My town didn’t have a DMV and I had to drive 30 minutes to get to one to take a test and get my license. The midwest is a big sparsely populated place, this is going to happen from time to time.

Now, the voter ID bill was bullshit. This is a bit odd, but I don’t see it being any harder to get an ID. The fact that you need one is still crazy though.

Sure, but that isn’t the same as closing an office.

And the point isn’t really about getting a driver’s license. It’s about getting a state ID that you now need to vote. Not only does this mean you have to pay to be able to vote, but they’re making people who don’t drive go out of their way to get an ID.

ShivaX · 2011-07-27T01:13:50.000Z

Jon Rowe:

I drove there with my Mom, as most of my class of 75 did (with the respective guardians). Or got a ride from an older brother/sister.

I am all for hating Walker and his trouble-making ways, but this seems like a small issue to get excited about.

So what is an unacceptable distance to be denied your Constitutional rights?

45 minutes? An hour?

Or maybe all your rights should just exist all the time and you shouldn’t have to travel vast distances to be able to excerise them.

Dan_Theman · 2011-07-27T05:09:18.000Z

This is really pretty simple - the measure costs the state more during a fiscal crisis (32,250 hours even at minimum wage equals almost a quarter of a million dollars), makes it more difficult for those who don’t drive to get a State ID, and expands services in areas that aren’t as traditionally blue in voting.

It’s a small issue in that the amount of disenfranchisement isn’t huge, but it’s a very real issue that doesn’t have a whole lot of benevolence no matter how much you squint your eyes when you look at it. In short, it’s a scumbag move although a perfectly legal one.

Jason_Townsend · 2011-07-27T05:37:08.000Z

Dan_Theman:

although a perfectly legal one.

IMO the politically discriminatory provision of services isn’t perfectly legal, not that a challenge would necessarily fly in court.

Lunch_of_Kong · 2011-07-27T05:58:20.000Z

Jason Levine:

Actually, a few of the highest population states: California, Texas and Florida have abolished gerrymandering with non-partisan redisticting commissions, at least for Congressional seats. In California it was the result (as usual in that state) of a ballot initiative. In Texas it came about after the first great Democratic Exodus of state lawmakers, when Tom Delay’s Republican disciples tried to gerrymander that state. Not sure how it became law in Florida.

Of course this is very hard to bring about in most states, since the entrenched office holders regard gerrymandering as one their best weapons for maintaining power.

Um… Gerrymandering is alive and well in Texas, sir. The redistricting committee is not non-partisan, but partisan with more Republicans than Democrats. So we again get things like this that try to get our much beloved U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett removed from politics:

The Texas Tribune – 9 Jun 11

Redistricting Map On Its Way to Texas House

The Texas House Redistricting Committee approved a new version of the congressional map that makes a few tweaks, mainly in North and South Texas. But the overall goal remains the same: Maintain and expand Republican power in Washington.

ShivaX · 2011-07-27T06:26:22.000Z

Lunch of Kong:

Um… Gerrymandering is alive and well in Texas, sir. The redistricting committee is not non-partisan, but bi-partisan with more Republicans than Democrats. So we again get things like this that try to get our much beloved U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett removed from politics:

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-redistricting/redistricting/redistricting-map-on-way-to-texas-house/

Kind of defeats the point of a bi-partisan commission if one side gets twice as many people…

Dan_Theman · 2011-07-27T06:28:40.000Z

Jason Townsend:

IMO the politically discriminatory provision of services isn’t perfectly legal, not that a challenge would necessarily fly in court.

Yeah, that’s more what I meant. Well put.

Honestly, I don’t know how Walker goes to sleep at night unless there’s a really twisted version of reality playing out in his mind.

Lunch_of_Kong · 2011-07-27T06:43:31.000Z

ShivaX:

Kind of defeats the point of a bi-partisan commission if one side gets twice as many people…

Oops, I meant “partisan”. :-(